Focus on the Job

We know how to run our own lives. We know how to raise our families. Business owners know how to run their businesses. Farmers know how to farm.

Council does not need to insert itself into every decision simply because it has the power to make another rule.

Council already has an important job.

Keep our roads and infrastructure working. Deliver reliable water and sewer. Keep our communities safe. Plan properly for growth. Process permits efficiently. Maintain our parks and public spaces. Protect taxpayers. Do the things municipal government is actually responsible for, and do them well.

That does not mean Council gets to shrug when Victoria or Ottawa makes a mess.

Bad decisions made somewhere else do not stay somewhere else.

We get stuck dealing with the consequences.

They land on our streets and in our parks. They hurt our businesses. They put pressure on our services. They affect the safety of our families and the quality of life in our neighbourhoods.

Not our jurisdiction does not mean not our problem.

When elected, I will push back when decisions made in Victoria or Ottawa leave us dealing with the consequences. I will advocate for us, demand action where it is needed, and refuse to accept somebody else’s bad policy as our permanent reality.

But I will also resist the temptation for Council to take over problems that do not belong to municipal government.

A crisis is something you solve. It is not something government should organize, fund and manage forever.

When Council considers taking on something new, I will ask whether it is actually Council’s job, whether there is a real municipal problem that needs solving, or whether Council is sticking its nose into something residents, families and businesses are perfectly capable of handling themselves.

When elected, I will work to keep Council focused on the job it was elected to do.

I will defend our community when decisions made elsewhere land on us.

I will push back when government reaches beyond its proper role.

And I will always remember that Council works for us, not the other way around.